Foreign ministers of Estonia, UK pledge to boost contribution in Afghanistan

03.03.2008

The British minister started the meeting by wishing the Estonian people many happy returns on the 90th anniversary of the declaration of independence, which is celebrated this year. The ministers then focused on the countries' joint activity in Afghanistan and spoke about the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest.

They stated that Estonia and the United Kingdom will continue their participation in ensuring the stability and security of Afghanistan and will increase their contribution to the buildup of the state.

Paet said that Estonia will substantially increase funding for development cooperation projects for Afghanistan this year.

"Today an Estonian expert in health care will arrive in Helmand, tasked with developing the health care system and coordinating international medical aid," he said.

The Estonian minister added that aside from Estonia an increased contribution to the buildup of Afghanistan was required also from the United Nations and the European Union, whose contribution was not sufficient despite being significant.

"The European Union will not be a serious partner for Afghanistan as long as we haven't proved this on the highest political level," Paet said. He said that also the role of the EU police mission could be larger than planned, especially given that Afghanistan needs serious help with organizing its police force.

The Estonian minister stressed that the international organizations active in Afghanistan must step up cooperation and coordination of their activities.

"We all must have a united and all-embracing approach to how to contribute to the re-emergence of the state of Afghanistan," Paet said.

At Estonia's initiative the EU foreign ministers will discuss matters related to Afghanistan at their scheduled meeting in April. Meetings of representatives of countries present in southerm Afghanistan, a format called into being by Estonia, have proved an efficient form of cooperation.

Speaking about the upcoming NATO summit, Paet said that Estonia is a convinced supporter of the open doors policy of NATO.

The ministers were unanimous that in Bucharest decisions concerning NATO enlargement will have to be made.

"We are both of the opinion that invitations to membership can be extended to Croatia, Macedonia and Albania on the condition that they will keenly continue their preparations at the same speed," Paet said.

Touching briefly on the presidential election in Russia, the ministers said that the election of a new head of state offered Russia the opportunity to move toward improvement of its relations with the EU and NATO.

"Foreign Minister Paet and I had very useful discussions in London today. The UK and Estonia have a wide range of common interests, not least our desire to work through the European Union to address the significant challenges that face us all in the twenty-first century such as climate change, global competitiveness and energy security," a Foreign Office press release quoted Miliband as saying.

"Estonia's largest international defense commitment remains the 130 troops embedded within the UK military command in Helmand province in Afghanistan. We welcome the government's commitment to its deployment there and in Iraq. We further welcome the government's engagement to increase civilian work in Afghanistan," Miliband said.

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